Fall of the Phoenix
Fall of the Phoenix Premeditated Assault The talk with Victor gave all the information Jasmine needed. Despite the brash attitude she approached him on, it was quite clear that he was trying to handle the delicate situation to the best of his ability for his company AND his family, on top of possibly figuring out how his resources were going to be handled in the war. What she was given from his own suspicions helped her narrow down the places Jadow could hide to only several countries, and the nearest one from the attacked headquarters. Prometheus helped them narrow down to one. With his dragon's nose, he could smell the path that Jadow had went to -at least physically- a mansion in the southwestern forest. There presided a grey walled, black rooftiled mansion with black tinted windows surrounded by enormous dead trees with gnarled roots exposed and writhing across the earth like the backs of giant serpents. Dead soil bore no mulch, no residue and no flora of any kind; just something that smelled like sulfur and death. "Ugh, it wreaks here!" Prometheus, plugging his nostrils with one hand and waving away at the air in front of him. Standing on the top of the hill, he looked over his shoulder at three others. Jasmine, whom had walked on foot for a few miles and made sure her steed wouldn't be involved in this fight, Irene whom was robed in a crimson hooded cloak bearing their seal at the collar, and another shorter cream cloaked individual by the name of Jenisis. "Deal with it, Meth!" Jasmine barked, her eyes glaring through the goggles at him, already geared up for the upcoming conflict they'd be steeled to bear. "We've got a job to do. If we live through it, you won't have to smell this place ever again." "IF we live through it," Prometheus snarked. "If we don't we STILL don't have to smell it!" "You don't have MY nose, Jas!" "And your point?!" "WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP AND GET TO WORK?!" Irene sudden shouted, making both fire users flinched at the incensed aroma and noise from Illya. Jasmine immediately reeled from the pheromones that was unleashed while Prometheus let out a loud sneeze. Jenisis just sighed, waving a hand around his hood, not daring to get in the way of this mess. Finally, Prometheus set his sights at the distant mansion. Stomping one foot and then the other on the hill overlooking the thick, dead woodland where the mansion was surrounded by, Prometheus let out a guttural growl. An immense aurora of heat manifested around him, focused into a physical blaze, siphoning in a swirling pair of fireballs in either hand. When two sigils manifested around each swirling flame, he smashed both hands, opening them and unleashing an exploding beam of molten light towards the thicket. Trees caught on fire, the nearest vaporized into ash, and the fields became a scorching blaze before it'd hit its target. "Now," The Salamander spoke, howling it, wrenching both arms over his head and twisting his hips about to slam the given target -perforated and burning- into the middle of the hill in a pyro burst of kinetic force. "GET OVER HERE!" Decay. Death. Disease. Rot. Ruin. Wherever the shadow of the Dark Dragon King fell these things were said to follow, and if the space around his home in Bosco could speak, it would testify to the truth of those words. His power only ever brought an end to life, even just living in a space dried up the flora. Creatures both great and small were slain just by being within his proximity. If anything were to survive, it had to evolve to match the sinister miasma that it now grew in. And for the man who bore that title, he wouldn't have it any other way. Locked within his mansion, he spent his leisure time reading a book filled to the brim with sordid details of the worst sins performed by mankind, things that were unspeakable even by the standards of the most depraved beings. For him, however, they were as entertaining as any media. Things so graphic and sinister, he was amazed the book even existed to begin with. Around his home, there were wards put in place by the Council and when they triggered, an alarm rang in his head. It seems I have uninvited guests. Interesting. he mused just before a flaming lance pierced his chair and into his torso. Eyes widened, he realized instantly that he wasn't fighting a mere human but the only breed of life that could injure him, a Dragon Slayer. But...how could they... he thought before it pulled him back as if tethered to the caster. Drug along, he had no chance to counter or to halt his movements until he was slammed into a nearby hill. The lance dissipated as soon as its purpose was through, allowing him to mend himself with the darkness that flowed through the land. He stood and faced the quartet that dared to assault him. "Ah, I see now." he said, his lips curling into a grin. "I suppose I don't have a need to disguise myself, after all you brought a Dragon Slayer...the only one I have no means to track at that. Clever." His crimson eyes narrowed as he began to walk around his challengers. Only one of them posed a threat, but he couldn't deny all four were incredibly powerful nonetheless. "How did you find out?" he asked. In his mind, they wasted their one and only surprise attack, he could afford to toy with them. He swept back his onyx hair and straightened his suit, which had also been fixed by his regeneration, a patch of shadow replacing the burnt cloth. "Instant Regeneration? No, that's more like Elemental Restoration," Jasmine noted, watching the form of Jadow rise up and knit his body anew, the darkness seeped into the earth sliding up and over his Council suit. The pinstripe apparel looked clean, the dirt and ash wiped away from the scorching spear that lanced through him. Glaring at him, she, Irene and Jenisis readied themselves for conflict. Prometheus, still in his battle posture, grinned and explained for the Dark Dragon King, "It honestly wasn't that hard. The moment we felt an energy signature that girl you sired, Morgan Deschain, released an alarming Magical Aura, we came to investigate ourselves. Really, it all came down to the particular stench you leave behind," The Slayer raised a thumb, tapping the side of his nostrils, his eyes glowing embers and his teeth hissing steam and smoke between the spaces of his fangs. "It was unmistakably a high caliber darkness or shadow based spell that gave Morgan such a radical transformation. So, either her adoptive father gave her it...or the taint of such ass for energy came from none other than you; the taste was too pure of shit to be anything other than a dragon's life force!" "I wonder how long you've sunk your fangs into the Council, Jarris Dowery," Jasmine in turn, took over the Fire Drake's explanation -earning a slightly ired look- as her goggle covered eyes glowed faintly behind the lenses. "You've certainly fooled a lot of people that the nation of Zeref was still alive. The Thunder God Saint made a report that contradicted your own, but was shuffled away, about how the village that girl of yours came from was wiped off the face of the Earth. You're a living cancer, and you destroyed that whole country in the centuries we've been ignorant of your survival. Am I wrong?" The idea that his gift to his daughter was the very reason they found out his true identity amused Jadow to no end. Not only was he tracked by the fifth Dragon Slayer he knew of in this age, but it had been the lingering taint of his own magic that led them right to his doorstep. And to compound it, they knew of the truth about Sin, something only four people were originally aware of, other than himself. He had used his position to keep the truth from spreading, but it seemed something had leaked through the cracks. There weren't many who's testimony would be believed. That was when he realized who was most likely the source of the information that backed up Godfried's report. I see now...It wasn't just the Saint. Only that bastard child would have the gall... "You're not wrong at all, girl. Your ignorance of what I did to them is exactly how I got away with it and fed on their suffering for ages. Because no one went to their aid, I was able to recover much of my former strength. And you foolish humans are perhaps just as guilty as I am." he gloated, releasing his magic power in a twisted display. A black wind swirled around him as screams of the damned masses echoed around him, shrieks of those who had become his sustenance. "Allow me the pleasure of showing you how they all felt, living only to wither and die out at my whim." he said with a sadistic grin, creating an enormous effigy of a dragon's wing around his arm before swinging towards them, the massive black shape swooping towards them like the scythe of the grim reaper itself. Not only did he create the something of such size that it looked like a tidal wave of shadowy matter as it rushed towards the four intruders, it was as if it were a mere afterthought for him despite being something that would take incredible amounts of magic to generate. It was like staring into the abyss, given form. So much twisted energy was released that all four stared wide-eyed and horrified at the endless pit of twisted force that was being called upon. Wails of those long since damned cried out in a shrill unison of static, unintellgiible and garbled by its unity. Blackness that filled the air with an acrid, smoldering suffuse that took the shape of a large onyx wing; its span equaling the span of a true draconic creature boasting his former stature. Then it was turned into a shrieking blade, intent on reaping their bodies and souls in a single stroke. "Holy shi-!" Prometheus swore, bending his body back at an angle near impossible, his upper half bent with his head almost touching the eroded ground. He felt the chill of motion rush just above his nose, some of his hairs cut through the shredding motion and the brush of wind would have sent him sprawling by proximity had his feet not been firmly planted. Jasmine, seeing the attack telegraphed in a deliberate motion -to her skill of observation, that is- was able to bend her legs and jump up over the attack, the weapon of blackness easily missing her. Before she dropped, her hands swiftly rose over her head, crafting a miniature sphere of intense flame -no bigger than a baseball- and then clasped both wrists perpindicular to each other towards him. During the cutting rush, Irene sunk into the ground, burrowing into the earth deep below and disappearing in a flash of emerald and red. Jenisis on the other hand, stood perfectly still and let the scythe come into contact with him. As the razor edge tore into his cream colored cloak, he vanished, dispersing into vibrant vapor that drifted into the wind. The full effect of his attack sent a chilling wave down Prometheus' spine as he bent back up, watching the whole top of the dead treeline -some of which was on fire- cut from a precise top up. It even tore the upper terraces of his mansion, continuing to tear through the dead foilage for a good kilometer before petering out. Had he took the blow as he was, he knew that would have damaged him severely. Jasmine, on the other hand, had already begun the counterattack: "Uriel Magic, Scorching Smite!" Jasmine hollered out, releasing an explosive cyllinder of flames that were colored of bright gold and wreathed outlines of crimson. In its charge it transformed from a blunt face to that of a luminous hand that sprayed rays of light, akin to that of the Sun. It'd attempt to grappel Jadow, crushing and burning him simultaneously, while she held him still. This gave Prometheus the opportunity to blitz towards the Dark Dragon King, wrapping his hands into burning claws during his foot-searing approach. Through the use of his stance, the Pyro Palms, he attempted to use his speed to land a machine gun pistoning of burning jabs and clawing strokes on his person. To further the damage, he'd try to hold him down himself through one burning claw on one arm and bracing it with the other. Releasing a shotgun blast of molten flames compounded with explosive fragmenting bits with his sneering yell, "Fire Dragon's Gripping Strike!" No frightened balking at the sheer scale of his Darkness Dragon's Wingbeat, Jadow had to give the invading foursome a bit of credit; either they were ready to meet their maker or they really felt as though they had more than a passing chance at toppling the Ragnarok Beast. Regardless of their intentions, he would soon grant them all death. A long, drawn-out and miserable death. Taken by surprise, he was almost caught by the Uriel Magic, avoiding only at the last second with a well-timed leap backwards. But he hadn't counted on Prometheus being able to close in with such a rapid assault in the same span. A raining assault of flaming strikes rained from the Slayer, each doing more damage than the sinister ruler of darkness had anticipated. It made him feel alive. Regrettably, the four were still a far cry from what he would deem worthy of showing more than a fraction of his strength. Once Prometheus grappled him, the Councilor sneered. Such a foolish endeavor. Had the woman's attack succeeded, he might have actually praised their teamwork, but as it was now, the King of Dark Dragons still held the upper hand. To protect himself from the flaming grip, Jadow created a small shell of darkness that would take the brunt of whatever the fire mage had planned, saving his arm in the process. And not a moment too soon, as the black bubble seemed to expand as if it were absorbing the blast that was meant for the dragon, popping loudly and showering the ground below with sparks and burning slime. He couldn't afford to give his enemy even a fraction of a second to realize what happened; with only a quick gesture, his shadow came to life and rose up between them like a wall, pressing on Prometheus' wrist and forcing him to release his captive, lest the ever-expanding column drag them both up and force his wrist to bend and eventually break. It was one of the many dark-centric spells he had come across over the centuries that had been useful enough to earn a place in his repertoire for many reasons. Once freed, he silently commanded his shadow to retreat, once more becoming his silhouette. He planned on getting rid of the Slayer. "I heard about your fight with my daughter, how you terrified her enough to force her to surrender. Allow me to repay you by showing you true fear." he said in a dark and sarcastic tone. Whatever happened between the two was no concern of his after all. In a blur, got closer and shrouded his hands in black energy. "Darkness Dragon's Talons!" He swiped at Prometheus a few times with his claws, aiming for the points that would cripple the man rather than kill him outright. "Dammit!" Jasmine swore, watching her flaming hand miss its mark. She was already falling, the hand soaring in the wrong direction that Jadow had maneuvered. Thankfully, she saw Prometheus had managed to begin his attack, landing a number of attacks on the Dragon King. He unfortunately had tried to hold him down; a mistake, since she wasn't keeping him still. When his magic had ballooned around the force of his spell, Prometheus was taken aback just how easily the Beast shrugged off the attack. The column, forcing him back, made him unprepared for the even faster dash towards his person. Raising his arms up to parry the blows, Jasmine did the next best thing. Siphoning the flames back into its condensed shape, she finished her drop and saw the Salamander grimace at feeling the first hit strike his arm; a distinct banging sound made from two opposing natures colliding, one overpowering the other, tearing apart the sleeve and chillingly burning and lacerating his forearm. Moving to avoid and parry again, he'd see sparkling rivuletting wave of air intercept the darkness, pushing it and steering it away from the Slayer. This gave him confidence enough to grin, dropping down to avoid his crippling swipes and jump into the air. Draconic wings of fire sprouted from his back, enabling him to streak around in the air above him, almost tauntingly. Then, in a second, he moved towards him a corkscrew lunge with a flap of his fiery wings; adding the hidden propulsionary plumes of enormous jets of fire from the soles of his boots, making him zoom at high speed with flames forming a twister of explosive wind pressure that'd impact him head-on with his molten knuckles held in front of him. When he telegraphed this maneuver, this gave Jasmine her own moment of surprise. Palming the micro-sphere of fire, she embraced it over her gloved hands, swirling it into an arc before jamming it into the earth. Surging beneath the earth it'd rise up beneath the Ragnarok Beast, forming dozens of searing golden-crimson chains to twine around him from multiple directions, protruding spikes the moment it got close enough. She hoped this would hold him down, with the added effect of painful constriction and burns on his person. That and the sheer force of Prometheus' crazy spiraling attack. Jadow grinned as he felt the first strike connect, tearing flesh like a blade through paper. But the second was redirected by an outside force, reminding him that there was still a foe he couldn't see. And now the unseen enemy had interfered with his offensive. When Prometheus took to the skies, as if in defiance of the earthbound dragon king, he couldn't help feeling more annoyed than anything. To regain his wings would require making a dangerous choice. While he had eternally bound himself to a human body with a forbidden technique in the past, there was but one way to once more escape the confines of the world and to take his place rightly as a ruler of both the heavens and the Earth again. Regardless of that benifit, there were costs, and despite its benifits, he was still forever condemned to being a shell of his former self. Before he could deal with the flying fire mage, blazing chains wrapped around him, dragging him into a kneeling posture. Even before the burning vortex from Prometheus slammed into him, he screamed out, but not in pain from the scalding spikes digging into his skin. He was furious now. As the whirlwind of flames crashed into him, blood as black as the midnight sky was ejected from his mouth. Hemorrhaging the very nectar of life, he knew that the time to toy with them had long since passed. It had only been his own hubris that allowed them to damage him so greatly. He broke free of the chains, showing his strength of both body and will. More blood dripped from where the bonds had dug into his skin. With an unholy roar of rage, he once again used his magic power in a wild display, creating waves of pressure that would force them back and the very ground to heave and buckle and more darkness was drawn towards him, restoring his energy and giving him the means to mitigate the damage they had done, sealing the perforations along his body. "I should apologize for treating you like mere children in need of punishment. I see now that you're more than that...you're worthy of facing a dragon!" he bellowed maniacally. "Darkness Dragon's Roar!" As he called out the name of the signature spell, he unleashed a torrent of black energy that would lay waste to all it touched. He no longer cared for being entertained, the meddling fools had actually injured him, made him bleed. And he would respond in kind by showing them the force that once rivaled the gods themselves. Light, heat, even the life still within the natural growth around them was extinguished in the wake of his destructive breath, and if he had his way, they would be the same long before anyone arrived to witness the source of the chaos. Prometheus had hit his mark. The moment his spiraling dive hit Jadow dead-on, his fists wedging in his middle and upper body. Other than the scorching indents let loose by the flames that burned his suit and torched his hair and skin, blood was hacked out of his mouth, adding to the rest of the sickening ichor that was released from the Uriel chains that binded him. His propulsion was continuing to push Jadow across the ground, his body ragdolling across the hillside overlooking the manor. Then, the Ragnarok Beast screamed. His anger induced released his aura like a bomb, blasting off from his pores and snapping the spiked chains, throwing Prometheus off while the earth and sky shattered under his voice's pressure. Flipping head over heels, the Fire Drake narrowly righted himself to a sole-grinding stop not far ahead of Jasmine. Despite the football field distance he was, they heard his words as if he was shouting in their ears, his expression maniacal as his chosen phrase. Without even time to properly inhale, he released what looked like a rushing black hole. The vortex all-consuming and endless, erasing the periphery of light and the horizon from their scope. The ground was chewed up, grounded into dust and the air blackened. Everything was an endless ocean of nothingness, aiming to swallow them up and leave nothing behind. At the last second, Prometheus and Jasmine attempted to raise their arms up, buffet the spell with their own aura; until air around them dilated and warped across the color spectrum. When the roar struck, it felt like a part of their life force was attempting to be pulled out, the wails of the dead screaming as the spell past them by. Like a hall of death from the darkest of crypts, the spell eventually past them, leaving them both feeling the shock of near death and the tangible essence of the roar's reach for their lives. The air returned to normal, and the previously hidden figure emerged between the two. With the hood drawn back, they could see a young man with mid-length luxurious curly hair of blonde with blue-green eyes. His cream colored cloak rippled around him form the foul acrid wind of the magic used, and the sky was noticeably darker; transforming the noon light day into a dim overcast, the Sun becoming red and light becoming crimson. "You know, I think you two would have the decency to try and avoid attacks instead of staring like idiots," Jenisis criticized, looking at Prometheus and then Jasmine. He flinched, drawing the pair's look at the horizon's scope of the path the roar had. For as far as the eye could see, a black scar as wide as a castle's keep left its mark into the distant vista. Seconds would pass before an enormous column of darkness emerged in a far away place they couldn't perceive. The sound couldn't even be heard from their perspective. "How much longer?" Jenisis asked, turning to glare at Jasmine. The Master shook out of her daze, blinking through her goggles and then back at Prometheus. Raising a hand to her temple, she was silent for a few seconds, she sighed and looked back at her worriedly; earning a grimacing sigh. "So, we're still stuck like this, huh?" "Let me fight him," Prometheus growled, earning a look from Jasmine that made him stare at her hard. "This is why I was born, Jas. I was born to kill this monster." "No, that's Morgan's job. You know that compatible elements are the only things with a surefire means of killing the dragon. That's why Slayers were made; to kill their most compatible dragons!" Jasmine argued. "We don't have time for this! If we keep fighting as is, he'll get fed up enough and take us all out, then it'll be for nothing!" Prometheus argued, slamming a fist over where his heart is. "I'm ready! I'll take him out, and end this nightmare! Let the world deal with Myst and Black Hell; this is our fight, and we're the only ones who can do it! Now are you going to help me or do I have to use up reserves for this job?!" Jasmine clenched her teeth, closed her eyes and balled her fists tightly, the leather creaking from the exertion. She knew he was right. Uriel Magic wasn't made to kill dragons; it was a magic made as a flattery to the god of fire and was said to be the work of divine properties. Those who inherited its spark were born every one hundred years, but it wasn't a surefire means of killing something as evil as Jadow; the flames of a Slayer belonged to Prometheus alone. Reaching up, she pulled the goggles away from a soot covered face and smiled a bit somberly at him, "I'm sorry, Prometheus. You're absolutely right. I just...don't want to lose you." "I ain't gonna die!" Prometheus barked, thumbing up towards his chin, flashing her a feral grin. "Just give me a good hot flame, alright?" "This might hurt a little, just warning you," She warned, hoping he'd back out. "I'm ready for the burn," Prometheus nodded with affirmation, his smile bared and fists clenched at his sides. "Do it." Flame On! All at once, Jasmine exuded an immense flame. The ground immediately was scorched, running lines for meters upon meters of tainted soil, burning away the stench and replacing it with the familiar ashen smoke. Jasmine's appearance transformed, her hair becoming a raiment of hot tongues and her eyes glowed a pupiless gold with crimson tongues ebbing from them. With flames wrapped to luminous quality around the hands, she clapped her hands, and stomped forward. "Uriel Magic," She intoned, her voice echoing with a holy timbre that ringed across the land. Palming either shoulder of Prometheus, a howling eruption of fire in the form of a myriad of thousands of beams of scorching fire thrust from all sides. Like casting an exploding volcanoe within Prometheus, every pore of him was emitting fire not of his own making, earning a bowing expression of agony and recoiling pain. "Cleansing Baptism!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The Salamander howled. He was reminded that his natural fire was nothing like Jasmine's; she could give volcanoes a run for their money. Every inch of him felt heat, hotter than he was prepared for. Amidst the pain was a familiar tingling feeling, the sensation of clinking scales. Though his skin didn't change, the pain was transformed into a scraping across his form, and the magic was swirling around him. Stomping on the ground, he let out a lung-filled howl, pulling in the flames into his chest and swelling his gut. Just as quickly as the lethal bath of molten tongues was pushed on him, now was all but vapor. Heaving from the effort, this was completely different than the times he used the Fire Dragon Souls. The quality of flame coming from his skin was different and ebbed slower, with more fine control. HIs irises were now a rich gold color, with a red pupil inside the yellow rings. His hair ebbed small golden tongues and his hands were bathed in the rich flame. Prometheus has entered Dragon Force. Breathing in and out, nostrils first out the mouth, the flames grew and dimmed with each breath. Rolling his neck around in a circle, followed by his shoulders, the Dragon Slayer felt invigorated; he knew he was ready now. "You okay?" Jasmine asked, almost unsure of what she was seeing; her hair settled into a more gentle flame and her eyes now more tame in its emission. "I'm fired up," The Salamander answered, giving her a thumb's up and a wry toothy grin. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to shove my fist so far up his ass, he'll be seeing Hell before he turns to ash." "Get going already," Jenisis snarked, keeping his composure despite the hellish transformation that took place. "Right-Right," Prometheus dryly retorted, waving back at him before walking over calmly to Jadow. Jasmine and Jenisis made sure to give him a wide berth, giving him comfort with only the faintests of doubts swirling in his gut. Looking up at the Ragnarok Beast, his smile turned sour and he stoically looked to the King of Darkness with an even, golden-red stare. "It's clear to me that the only way to properly do this, to decide if you die today, is if you and I square off. How about it? I bet you haven't fought one of my kind in eons, let alone had a real good death match in awhile. Got the guts to take me on; or would you rather let your girl do all your fighting for you?" The Roar had been forced off target, much to Jadow's shock, sending the wave of black death off-course, and this time he could recognize the shimmering effect for what it was. Airspace magic...They're just delaying the inevitable with that. he thought with a look that conveyed just how filled with fury he had become. The three of the intruders who he could see where trying his patience, surviving everything he could throw at them. like cockroaches and were able to actually land blow after blow of their own. Taking advantage of their discussions among themselves, he recovered from his injuries and restored his magic power by absorbing as much of the darkness around him as possible, consuming it eagerly. With his stamina restored enough to continue his battle, he waited. Witnessing the Fire Dragon Slayer being consumed by fire instead of the natural order of things intrigued him, earning a curious glance. The non-Slayer fire mage seemed to be inordinately powerful and her flames were potent enough to pierce his skin with little difficulty, but to cause a Slayer pain from their own element was unthinkable. And the end result was an awakening, one that transcended even what his own progeny was capable of. Standing before him now was a true Dragon Slayer. "Not since Acnologia have I felt like this...Feel proud, mortal." he said with a contemptuous tone. "I agree to your request for a battle to the death, on the condition that your friends refuse to interfere with us." he said, glancing between him and the others. "Trust me," Prometheus began to say, his smile returning as his body crouched and his legs spread out. Fists clenched, flames erupting from his pores, bleeding out till he was in a molten mantle akin to magma. The earth gave way, bubbling and heating up with a swirling golden hue and spreading outward in a wave of searing energy that cast a wildfire that smoldered and scorched anything it touched. If it wasn't for the fact the distantly viewing Jasmine's Uriel Magic created a ring of protective flame -on top of the Airspace spell Jenisis cast- they would be on fire just from being in the same kilometer as him. With golden tongues ebbing off every feature thanks to Fire Dragon's Sweat, Prometheus savagely grinned ear to ear as his aura let loose in a bursting manner that howled with torrential force; his voice carrying the lungs of a true dragon. "I INTEND TO MAKE OUR BATTLE YOUR LAST!" Immediately, Prometheus shot off like a burning comet, smashing into Jadow's form. An enlarged flaming arm punched into his body from the knees up, thrusting a pyre of jetstreaming tongues to propel him across the burning fields. Additional flaming lances -akin to the one that had stabbed him before- sought him out, semi-intelligently following his movements over the smoldering battleground. Exploding with titanic force, Prometheus would be seen emerging from the flames up above Jadow, pulling back his right arm. "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art," The Salamander intoned, thrusting his fiery arm, discharging molten beams akin to lasers that circled around each other in a corkscrew effect to puncture and burst Jadow with its melting touch. "Fire Dragon's Spiraling Talons!" Jadow felt the blazing heat emanating from Prometheus, the only thing keeping him from boiling alive outright was his own magic power providing a buffer between the scalding warrior. "Then give me your best shot, mortal!" he bellowed in response to the fire mage's proclamation. He would crush their expectations and emerge the victor of the fight. Many Dragon Slayers had tried before to vanquish him, only one had ever succeeded in laying him low. He hadn't expected Prometheus to charge him so quickly and in the scant few moments before impact, the Dark Dragon King prepared his defense and entered a more protective posture, waiting for a chance to counter attack. Using a spell he had picked up over the centuries known as Shadow Body, he was able to survive the onslaught of fists that pummeled his body and the spears that tracked his every step, all by turning his physical body into a living shadow of himself, at the cost of constantly losing more and more Magic Power to maintain the illusion. If he avoided a punch, he was impaled and if he evaded the lance, he was hit with a flaming fist, but he felt none of it. Even the Secret Art had done little more than annoy him in his current state, even though the damage was quite impressive regardless, a massive series of holes torn into his torso. His dark form regenerated slowly, and the Dragon King barked out a laugh despite the large, yet shrinking, holes in his torso, even though it was all for show. "Have you realized yet? I'm immortal!" he gloated, deactivating his spell once he fully recovered, as if not a single scratch was on his person. "Now...let me show you a real sense of power. Darkness Dragon's Ultimate Art: Ereskigal's Malice Directed Towards Heaven!" he called out, gathering all the darkness and shadows he could, surrounding Prometheus for nearly a kilometer before an enormous black box trapped the Fire Slayer. A number of crucifix-like spears impaled the many-kilometer-tall spire. Inside it was pitch-black, save for the occasional bolt of violet-hued lightning, with an ominous glowing core that generated enormous waves of gravity, pulsing like a heart. With each pulse, Prometheus would be forced into the ground with a force many times his own weight. As if the imprisoning spell was not terrifying enough, Jadow snapped his finger and the walls began to collapse inwards, limiting the space to avoid the energy bolts. A mad grin spread across his face as the walls slowly inched towards each other. His sadism made the encroaching fate by crushing slow enough that he could enjoy the fear the construct would undoubtedly generate. Prometheus knew it was going to be hard, killing the Devil. His blows were met with an empty resistance, almost like the time his Gripping Talon was dispersed by a wrap of shadow. Glowering he attempted to work up a better technique, but was caught in a new debacle; a spell that completely enclosed him in a massive dark space. It'd been pitch black had it not been for the ominous glowing blob hanging over his head, like an inhuman heart that beat intermittenly and slowly. Every beat, brought a wave of crushing pressure on his body. "GAK!" He cried out, his flaming body dimming as distortive air warped around the gravity that smashed the earth and his person. The pain was intense, but not beyond his scope of coping. Another beat buckled him, his legs shaking as he tried to remain standing. Every beat that followed brought more and more agony, his flames all but protecting him from the worst of it. "D-Dammit! This whole space is like a box of increasing gravity. I didn't think Darkness Magic, Dragon or otherwise, could pull this off!" Prometheus realized, his eyes widened with clarity and his body shaking as the gravity increased even faster. The beats became erratic and from what little light that was around, he saw that the box was beginning to shrink at a steady rate as well. Sneering, he knew that Jadow had to be enjoying this suffering he was putting him through. Straining his neck up, he looked at the core and found that he was directly beneath it; the one silver lining to his situation. Falling to his knees, Prometheus smashed a fist into the ground, ebbing his Fire Dragon's Sweat to create a draconic shaped sigil around and underneath his body. As another series of pulses pushed him face flat into the squashing earth, he closed his eyes and blocked the pain out. Hissing, he inhaled deeply, knowing this feat was all it was going to take to free him from this. A small hope that Jadow was standing nearby, and that he'd be caught in what mad scheme he was going to do. From the outside, Jasmine looked on in morbid awe. Jadow had caught Prometheus in what looked like a quantum cage of selective gravity. The spell, based on how it contracted and shrank, was going to grind him into dust. Gritting her teeth, she felt her Uriel Magic heat up, her body impulsively stepping forward. Had it not been for a barrier of Jenisis' making in front of her, she would've broke the agreement and rushed in to save him. But, then she felt a tremor in the earth; one that was warm and ebbing steam. Geysers of hot vapor followed with flame shot out from various points of the earth, covering the expanse of even greater proportions than what Jadow had summoned the darkness from. In the beams of corrosive heat, the contracting box halted, rattling and shaking in place. It rumbled for a good thirty seconds, incapable of pushing any farther. What happened next, would be the result of what transpired within. Inside, where none could hear him, Prometheus was howling with unending passion. Pushing himself upward, pass the gravity, he unleashed his whole geyser of his Magical Aura, a brilliant blaze that bent and undulated with the pressure of the darkness. The spell continued to push against it, but the flame was shoving back, eventually transforming into two monstrous dragon talons that pushed upwards; an unseen effigy -to all, even Prometheus- was Igneel's massive frame standing upright and pushing back against the gravity of Jadow's Dark Dragon Ultimate Art. With his body able to stand, venting so much magical energy, Prometheus looked directly up at his target. It was pounding like a drum, continuously ramping up the gravity. At this rate, he knew if he didn't destroy the object, he would be drained dry of his own power and then crushed into dust. Stomping onto the ground, kicking up slabs of lava, and molten crust, he angled his stance appropriately and inhaled what air was left in the limited space, Prometheus smashed his fists together -forming a flaming draconic sigil- and swung his arms up- "Fire Dragon's Ultimate Art: Fire Dragon Hell Roar!" A deafening howl akin to a dragon of old erupted from the box, cracks emerging from all faces that spewed molten flame from all sides. A golden glow spurt from the top as a shower of what could only be compared to a geyser of a volcanoe's heat soaring into the heavens. The darkness that fell upon Bosco became a golden overcast, layering everything in a bright mesmerizing yellow hue. The nation would notice a glowing beam shoot into the sky, swirling clouds becoming ashen and then disperse into molten meteorite showers that pummeled the earth and rained magma across the land that belonged to Jadow. A distant set of viewing Holy Protectors saw this display and bore witness to the events as they charged on horseback. Having heard the call of the alarm sent, they were deployed to protect Councilor Jarris Dowery but found themselves seeing a battle underway that defied imagining. To the active Holy Protector Lieutenant, Killar Zeal, it was as if she was seeing gods do battle. Finally, the box exploded, and the pressure from within the chamber unleashed an Earthbound equivalent of a molten supernova. Elliptical rings of light followed a mushroom cloud of golden fire and crimson bursting fragments of fiery earth, ballooning outward and consuming the land in a hot devouring maw of solar death. The blast wave was on par with the reach the Hell Roar's had in hitting the vacuum of Space out of the planet, Surging forth, the glowing pillar of fire soared for hundreds of thousands of miles until it struck the moon's surface, causing an infernal blaze to appear to anyone viewing it. Now Prometheus was free, standing in the midst of the center of what could be considered the start of an igneous bed of new crust of earth. While some of the black ooze bubbled and spurt, with pockets of lava still burning hot, the majority of the heat had dispersed in a wide radius from the explosion and had since settled. His feet were buried from the shins down in the vapor exuding igneous muck, kicked up slabs now shattered pieces surrounding him from his stomps. His 'sweat' had turned into hissing vapor, wafting off him, coming from his mouth and nostrils as well. A haggard look entered his eyes -still glowing gold and red, but less bright than before- as he barely maintained Dragon Force. Breathing out sparks, smoke and steam with every rasping exhale, Prometheus turned and looked through the smoldering haze. He saw, almost like a mirage, the bubble of Airspace Magic that had protected Jenisis and Jasmine -though the latter would have been fine regardless- so that gave him some comfort. He tried to see if his blast had knocked Jadow away, but at the moment, the steam was too thick for him to see and he was too weary to try and force a sense. "Where did you go, you asshole?" He breathed out, baring his teeth with anger between breaths that fought to regain his lost wind. As the ground erupted around his Malice Directed Towards Heaven, Jadow cocked an eyebrow. Whatever Prometheus was attempting within the confines of the prison of darkness was only delaying the inevitable. As the walls shrank inwards, they left behind them a trail of magma underneath them, until they suddenly ground to a halt. "W...what?!" he growled, incensed that his grandest spell, one that wrought only destruction without distinction to all that were trapped within, had been stalled. Regardless of the futile resistances any had offered in the past, they all suffered the same fate. It was only a matter of time before the Slayer within met the same end. That's when a blazing column erupted from the spell and the walls exploded apart. For the first time, the Ultimate Art was broken, leaving him wide-eyed as he witnessed a feat he thought impossible. Pressure waves forced his greatest spell to explode with incredible force and slammed into his body, stunning him and causing him to very nearly stumble into the growing lava pit that churned around the initial blast zone. Burning shards of solidified shadow-shrapnel spread throughout the area, some coming within a mere hair of hitting the Ragnarok Beast, forcing him to dodge or to use his Darkness Dragon's Scales as an additonal line of defense at the last second. If felt as if the fragmented spell acted like bullets that would have caused him considerable pain if it weren't for his magic behaving as a suit of armor for his being. Even still, once he had a moment to check for any actual damage once the initial carnage ceased, he saw that the impacts had dented many of the scales that covered him, an incredible feat for anything. Streams of black mist lingered along the trails the remnents had taken, some spreading out many kiliometers beyond the battleground. not that either combatant would be able to see them. The thick, acrid smog was too thick even see through, but he didn't need vision to know the insufferable Drake had survived. Floating just above the lava atop a disk of dark energy that also kept him cool despite the magma a few feet under his soles, Jadow waited to see if Prometheus really had survived the great explosion. Amid the smoky chaos, he used yet more shadow to discard his councilor garb and replace it with his black chain mail armor. A few seconds passed and the smoke finally began to clear, leaving the two combatants able to face each other once more and for him to survey the ruin that has been brought down upon his latest home. All was laid to waste in the fury of the explosion, including his mansion, ruined all the more, almost entirely consumed by molten slag. "You...survived. You really are a worthy foe." Jadow remarked, for the first time without a trace of his usual sarcasm. He held Prometheus truly equal to Acnologia. He noticed how tired that Prometheus seemed, as if the explosion and the magic preceeding it had taxed him greatly. While the King himself didn't show it, he felt his own power ebbing, the Ultimate Art carrying a price that even to him was a steep cost to pay, but he carried himself as if there was nothing amiss regardless. Prometheus sneered at the compliment. Even after all he had went through to escape the death trap, he didn't see any physical toll the Dragon King had paid from it. He knew it must have eaten a lot of his stamina and Ethernano stores to produce a spell of that precision and density. The biggest problem wasn't how winded the Ragnarok Beast was; it was how long could he keep up this level of punishment to Jadow. "I can use the Fire Dragon Souls to replenish my stores, but that can be bad if I overuse them. My body can only handle so much magic before it burns out literally. I don't even know if I'm really doing as much damage as I could possibly-" His train of thought veered when he saw a distant company of what he assumed was horsemen. They possessed powers akin to elite mages, and given from the glint from the now exposed Sun's rays, they were the Holy Protectors. He saw Jasmine turn to look, and given from her stride, she didn't seem like she wanted them interfering. He silently thanked her and Jenisis for heading them off. Looking around, he saw something else that caught his eyes. Among the most cool of the new layer of volcanic sediment was blooms of a particular kind of plant. Said plant bloomed into patches of flowers with beautiful array of red, gold and velvet raspberry. His eyes widened and his hope surged. Grinning, he wrenched a bare foot out from the cemented boot followed by another. Tearing off his jacket and letting it fly off into the wind, the short-sleeved and injured Dragon Slayer began a slow trot over the boiling new layer of land. It slowly turned into a jog, then a full pell mell spring. Reaching a dozen meters, he'd kick off the surface, flecks of lava and blackened igneous rock scattering, soaring from his place as fiery wings combined with plumes of jetstreams of hot plasma from his soles careened him like a missile straight to the hovering Jadow. "Fire Dragon's Steel Fist!" Prometheus howled, throwing out machine gun blows of a trademark technique of his, the molten fist aiming to land repeatedly while he used his aerial maneuverability of his wings and his feet's jetstreams to avoid and move around him. The one objective they had chiefly was to distract the Dark King from realizing why Irene had left the fight at its start; her main goal was to remove the dark taint that presided in his residence of Bosco and beyond that. The Salamander made good work to burn the decay and corrosion on the surface as well as anything that Jadow created in addition, meanwhile deep within the earth Irene was healing and restoring the soil that had been rotting and festering with his magic's passive attempt to infiltrate the land. Now at this juncture, while the Fire Drake looked energized beyond his haggard state, it will be Jadow who will begin to feel the burn. The lack of negative ambience of the land along with many people to feed on their emotions and the destruction of his passive darkness was nullified. It was now just what he had to bear against the Slayer. With a feral grin on his face, golden-red eyes staring hot at its prey, he aimed to turn the monster into tepid prey before the day was done. Jadow felt the darkness he had stockpiled had greatly diminished. It's been a while since I've had to use so much of my resources...But it shouldn't be so low! he thought as Prometheus took off his boots and jacket. No matter how far he reached out with his senses, it felt as if there was nothing staining the ground or anything around to draw upon. Where there was once a near-limitless well of power to draw upon, nothing remained. He was absolutely cut off from his power source, the last round had begun. As he thought about it, he saw the small flowers blooming in the volcanic soil. That's impossible! Nothing should be able to exist! he yelled mentally, realizing seconds later that he had fallen into a trap. That's where the fourth mage was all along! And I played right into their hands! However, he had no time to think about the loss of his power and the return of natural growth as Prometheus began to assail him again. In his current state, the Steel Fist managed to break the remaining Scales and pounded the Dragon King relentlessly, compounding the lingering injuries that still hadn't entirely mended from before. However, he was able to exploit a momentary gap in the attack by kicking the Fire Dragon Slayer away with a Darkness Dragon's Thrashing Leg. Once Prometheus was knocked back, Jadow's injuries and loss of power caught up to him. His vision swam and he felt weary. On instinct, he attempted to draw in the negative energy but found nothing at all near enough to aid his continued survival. But there was one place he could retreat to, a place so mired in ruin and madness that his recovery was assured. "I've got no choice..." he snarled before fading quickly into his own shadow, which sped off like a bullet, preventing the battle from continuing, leaving the Crime Sorcière members to celebrate their survival as if it were a victory. He would permit them to feel that bit of pride in themselves, for no matter how high they would soar, he would drag them back down and consume them all the same. And next time, he would be prepared. The Salamander was beside himself. Just as he was landing real damage, blood flying and scales breaking, the big bad boogey man himself turned tail and ran. He was kicked hard enough that his Dragon Force completely deactivated, his body smashing into the ground and bouncing several times off the igneous rock. Growling he pushed himself up and looked on as the bleeding, panicked Ragnarok Beast slipped into the shadows below and streaked across the charred earth. "You're not getting away!" Prometheus smashed his fists together, forming a sigil and flames erupted from his body. "Fire Dragon's R-" The fire disappeared, and the Fire Drake's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Dropping to his face in a dramatic crunch of molten crust, the Slayer was completely tanked out. Despite the boasting reserves he had before, once he had nothing to hit and no fire to eat, his earlier bid to free himself had knocked him out completely. Left deathly still, Irene emerged from the rock, looking a bit pale and coughing as she cradled Prometheus in her arms. "Jasmine! Prometheus is knocked out, and Jadow fled!" "He WHAT?!" The Crime Sorciere Master shrieked, her stand off with the Holy Protectors causing them to stumble back as she vented a wave of searing fire. "We confirmed his weakness and that he's a coward. There's only one place he can go-" "Sin," Jasmine finished what Jenisis said, simmering with certainty. "He's gone back to that Hell to replenish his stores and heal himself." "We can't stay here, otherwise they might call for reinforcements," Jenisis intoned with a glance at Killar Zeal. "She's already proving troublesome to hold back, regardless. If this keeps up-" "I know," Jasmine sighed, gesturing with a hand and forming a wide flame wall. Placing her fingers in her mouth, she blew a shrill whistle and waited. "We're going to pursue." "Without backup? We'll be in his element-" "We know he ''can ''be killed," She turned to him, Irene now joining up in their midst with Prometheus held in her arms. Looking at the pair, she brushed a hand over the Fire Drake's pale face, wiping away the grime and soot that had formed over his visage. "I'll give him all the flame he needs. He's our best shot at taking him down. If we finish what we started, then he can't interfere anymore than he was in this war between the Council's protected nations and Myst's alliance." "He knows our hand. Going to him without getting any backup is too risky," Irene proffered, earning an agreeing look from Jenisis. "So we wait for him to be on the move again and let him strike? This is the only opportunity we have to truly end this monster once and for all!" Jasmine cried out, just as the Wyvern overhead roared out and circled down to land near them. Jumping up to mount the Wyvern, she beckoned the two with Prometheus carried to join her. Once saddled, the four soared up into the sky, with the Holy Protectors crying in protest and glaring as they moved quickly in the heavens. Once in the heavens fully, Jasmine got an unnerving chill; making her worry something else was transpiring beyond her reach and that was undoing her plans. Sighing, she clicked her tongue and spoke aloud, "I'll get in touch with Victor. If he knows what we've done, maybe he can spare us some help. Maybe that will help us even the odds; for what good it will do." "GET BACK HERE YOU ASSASSINS!" "Grigori, enough!" One of the other Protectors put a hand on the armored man, making the other shake it off with anger. "Jarris was in trouble, and we just let it happen! Some Holy Protectors we are!" "If we ran in, we'd been killed!" "But that's our job!" "TO BE KILLED?!" "You know what I MEAN!" "Shut up, both of you!" Holy Protector Lieutenant Killar Zeal cried out, causing the two and the others gathered to look at her worriedly. She was pale, shaking and her face was ebbing sweat. Raising a hand to hear the telepathic call clearly, she gulped and looked to them with a nervous stoicism. "Everyone, we're in need at the sixth province of the Alliance of Seven, stat!" "Wh-What happened, Maam?! You look spooked!" "It's because," She began, ending with a wary expression. "Faer Pleigh has escaped his prison, on his own accord, with the use...of a foul magic." Category:Jadow Category:Jasmine Brimstone Category:Prometheus (Mangetsu20) Category:Crime Sorcière Category:Dark Mage Category:Darkness Dragon